Chap. XIX. A N T I E N T METAPHYSICS. 253 



and, as far as I know, of a]} tlic pbilofopliers of antiquity, tli^t were 

 not Atheifts. I hope, therefore, 1 fhali be exciife(i, if I endeavour to 

 defend it, even agauift Sir Ifaac Newton and his ibllowers. 



That all motion here on earth is not only begun, but carried on, by 

 mincl^ fo that, without the continual operation of mind, it would ceafe, 



is 



As to Ariftotle, he thoup^ht, as well as Plato, that there was a -^vyjA r«y y.«5-|i4ay, or 

 w/«^ anlmcitlns; the whole univerfe j for he has faid exprefs'y, that the oyg^vo?, by 

 which he means the whole univerfe, is tiA^vy^'^i^ or tmimated , lib. 2 de Ccelo^ cap. 2. 

 p- 4(;4. edit. Du Faf, and the commentary of bimpiicius upon the palTage, folio 94. 

 By which we are not to fuppoie, that either Plato or Anftotle believed that this mind 

 was the Supreme God, which was the opinion of the Stoics, and, I think, of Spi- 

 noza, among the moderns, if there beany fcnfc at 2-.ll in his philofophy But, on the 

 contrary, it is evident, that both thole phiio.'ophers believed that the Supreme Godf 

 the firft ptrfon of the 'irinity of Plato, w,\s not on.'y, in his own nature and elT-nce, 

 immaterial, but x'^^i<rT»s and «|))^/),«!v»5 Irom all matter, not being incorporated with 

 any matter ; and, therefore, altogether immoveable ana unchangcaok, and yet the 

 Author of all motion, 



-' Stabilifque manens, dat cuncla moveri. 



Boe thins de Confol Philof. 



Further, Ariftotle has exprefsly faid, that, not only the whole ov^xu?, or univerfe; 

 has a mind belonging to it, but that the particular celeltial bodies are all animated by 

 fevcral minds, and thofe minds intelligent. And he condemns the opinion of thofe 

 who thought that they Avere mere inanin.ate bodies His Avords are, axa' 'tiuiii '<y? we§» 



fHTi)^»vTuf v7roX»fc^Kvuv TT^xliui Kcii ^^.1?, Lib. 2. De Coelo, cap, l <.. p. 4'^4« edit. Du Val, 

 See alfo, Simplicius's Commentary upon the paifage, foho i 17- where he fhows tiiat 

 the- word tt^^uXk;, in Ariilotlc's language, can ^pply oniy to intelligent beings ; and it is 

 in this way that Ariftotle accounts lor the fceming irregularity of their motions, which, 

 he fays, muft be underftood to be all for the bell, though we be not able always to^ 

 find out the purpofes they ferve. 



1 hope, therefore, the prejudice againft antient philofophy, and in favour of the 

 modern, is not yt-t fo great, that 1 fliould be thought arrogant or prefumptuous, m 

 endeavouring to fupport the antient againft the modern, in this particular of the prin- 

 ei-ple of the motion of the ccleftial bodies. 



