Chap.XVirr. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 243 



To this ] anfwer, that all the poivers znd properties of body, as well 

 as l?oJy itfelf, do proceed, no doubt, from the Firft Caufe, and Great 

 Author of the univerfe ; but, if he have beftowed upon body the 

 power of moving itfelf, what is that but giving it a mind ? for, how 

 elfe Ihall we dillinguifh mind and body^ except by aHivity and pajfi'ui- 

 tyy mind being that which, by its nature and eflencc, is ac^i^e ; body^ 

 on the other hand, eflentially/^rt^jtW, and, therefore, only fit to be adt- 

 cd upon, not to adt. Now, to move, is to a^ ; and, therefore, if body 

 be moved, and, if the motion proceed from an internal principle, that 

 principle muft be a mindy which it has pleafed the Almighty to be- 

 llow upon it. What, therefore, is called a motion originally impref- 

 fed by the Deity upon matter, is nothing elfe, when explained, but 

 mind beftowed by God upon matter^ and which operates continually 

 in producing the motions of the univerfe ; for, to fuppofe that 

 fuch original impreflion could carry on the bufinefs of nature, without 

 the continual exertion of an Immaterial power, is, according to the o- 

 pinion of Dr Clarke, in the pafTage above quoted *, inconfiftent 

 with the belief of a Providence, and a ftep towards Atheifm. 



It will be further faid, that I make a wonder — a miracle of Nature 

 — That I fill the world with fpirits — That 1 want to bring back the 

 antient mythology of Dryads and Hamadryads, Wood Nymphs, and 

 Water Nymphs, and other invifible Genii, inhabiting the earth, air, 

 and feas — or to revive the Sylphs and Gnomes of the Rofycrutians — 

 In fhort, that my fyflem ie altogether vifionary and enthufiaRical. 



To this I anfwer, that, as there is nothing elfe in nature, except 

 mind and body, there is no abfurdity in fuppofing, that there is as 

 much of the one as of the other ; for, fince body is paflive, mind ac- 

 tive, and the whole fyftem of nature is carried on by adion and paf- 

 fion, it is only fuppofmg, that, where-ever there is a patient, there is 



H h 2 likewife 



* Pages 235, 236. 



