y8 OF THE SYSTEM OF DeS CaRTES.

It was upon the principles of the Cartesianphilosophy, that Spinoza founded his system ofAtheism, and from thence attempted to defendall the absurdities which naturally attend sucha doctrine. And though many of the followersof Des Cartes have endeavoured to show thathis system is not in the least favourable to suchnotions, yet it must be owned that they havebut ill succeeded. For if a void be impossible,and matter be infinite, it will evidently followthat matter must be necessary. But if matterbe necessary, it must exist of itself, by an abso-lute necessity inherent in its nature, and ante-cedent to all things. Matter would therefore beGod, and he who maintains these principles,ought, if he reasons consequently, to admit ofno other conclusion.

Leibnitz, the great and illustrious opponentof Newton and Clarke, draws, it is true, verydisserent conclusions from this doctrine. Fromrepresenting the universe as a machine thatwould proceed for ever, by the laws of mecha-nism, in the most regular manner, and by anabsolute a'nd inviolable necessity, he concludes itto be a perfect work, or the best that could pos-sibly have been made; and contends, that thecontrary opinion is derogatory to the wisdomand power of the Supreme Being.

The origin of evil, which has perplexed andembarrassed the philosophers of all ages, he asserts

to