t. 
8; ESSAYS anp OBSERVATIONS. 
feos If it be objected that man is a being 
endued with a power of moving himfelf, 
and of moving other things, the plain an- 
{wer is, that thefe are faéts which we learn 
no other way than by experience; and we 
have the fame experience for a voucher, that 
a ftone fet free in the air will move itfelf. 
And if it be farther urged, that man isa 
thinking being, the anfwer will readily oc- 
cur, that a power of beginning vifible mo- 
tion is no more connected with a power of 
thinking, than it is with any other property 
of matter or fpirit. Nay, Mr Locke holds, 
that matter may be endued with a power of 
thinking; and, fuppofing this power fuper- 
added to the other properties of matter, it 
cannot be maintained, that matter would be 
rendered thereby more or lefs capable of be- 
ginning or continuing vifible motion. 
Bur this isnot the only inftance in which we 
difcover anagency or active power in matter. 
A billiard ball {trudt upon the ground, re- 
bounds with a confiderable force. A bow bent 
by the hand, reftores itfelf with violence when 
the {tring islet go. In both, there is an inftant 
of reft betwixt the oppofite directions of the 
motion. The ball rebounds, and the bow 
reftores 
