120 of the Newtonian system,

One experiment more, will give you a firmreliance on the truth of this doctrine. TheFrench mathematicians, who were employed inmeasuring the circumference of the earth,observed that a large mountain in South Ame-rica had a sensible effect upon the plumb line oftheir instruments : but as this was a business fo-reign to that in which they were engaged, theyneglected to make the observations which werenecessary to establish its validity. The RoyalSociety, however, from this and other conside-rations, were induced to prosecute the enquiry,And Dr. Malkelyne, the astronomer-royal, whowas employed by them for this purpose, hasfurnilhed us with a series of observations,made on the mountain Schehallien in Scot-land, from which it appears that, by the forceof its attraction, the plumb line was drawn outof its vertical direction about six seconds of adegree.

This instance is sufficient to show that allbodies whatever attract and are attracted; andit has been farther proved, by Newton, thattheir mutual actions upon each other, are inexact proportion to the quantity of matter theycontain. As the fun, therefore, is the largest bodyin our system, he may be considered as the em-peror of the world, and the earth, planets, andcomets, as his subjects: by virtue of his powerthey move round him in their several orbits,

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