33 ESSAYS AND OBSERVATIONS 



The former is Slrlfaac's fenfeofthls law; 

 which is evident, from his placing it a- 

 mong the laws that govern all matter in 

 general ; as well as from his various in- 

 flances, importing that it holds in every 

 cafe whatever. And now, taking the law 

 in this fenfe, difficulties croud upon me; 

 of which I Ihall mention a few, that feem 

 to make a figure. The firft is, that, ac- 

 cording to this law, there cannot be in 

 matter fuch a thing as rcfiftance without 

 rea(5lion ; a bold alfertion, that contra- 

 diidts what in common apprehenfion ap- 

 pears to be the fajfl ; and therefore ought 

 not to have been taken for granted with- 

 out offering any evidence. But, not to 

 reft upon the negative, it appears clear, 

 that, in the collifion of hard bodies, there 

 is refinance without readlion ; and I flat- 

 ter myfelf with having made out above, 

 that, were there readlion in this cafe, the 

 efFecfls of collifion would be very dif- 

 ferent from what they are in facl. An^ 

 this leads to another difficulty, that i^ 

 readlion were, in every cafe, equal to 

 action in hard bodies, for example, as 



yrell 



