. 
w 
_anfwer to what hath been fo much infifted 
on, «© That motion is aGtion.””. Motion is not 
_ action, but the effe@t of an action. 
PHYSICALanp LITERARY. 85 
true diftinétion between active force, proper- 
ly fo called, and the vis inertie, feems tocon- 
fit in this, that fome beings can begin mo- 
tion where there was none before, either in 
themfelves, or in the body to be moved: in 
other beings, the motion, when begun from 
fome external caufe, is continued for want of 
a power to ftop it. ‘The firft of thefe may 
be properly denominated’ aéfive beings 3 the 
other, even when in motion, have no proper 
activity of their own. 
THERE can indeed be no action upon mat- 
ter without a production of motion, or at 
leaft a tendency to it. But it doth not there- 
for follow, that motion and action are fyno- 
nymous terms. Why may not an active be- 
ing communicate motion to matter, without . 
moving itfelf? Is not that every whit as eafy 
as felf-motion? But, whether the agent 
moves itfelf or not, it muft have a power of 
acting, previous to all motion; otherways it 
would be impoffible for matter or any other 
being to begin motion of themfelves. A due 
attention to this remark, will afford a direct 
AcTIVITY 
