262 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book II. 



omnipotent Being, infinite in production as in every thing elfe, 

 ihould not have produced every, fenfiiive Being that is capable of 

 pleafurc, and can enjoy a happinefs fuitable to its nature, whofe ex- 

 igence ispoffible, that is, implying no contradidlion ; for, othcrwife, 

 there would be fomething wanting in the Syftem of Nature, which 

 would not be perfect and complete, as, I think, of neceflity it 

 muft be. 



That Mermaids, or Sea Men, which exifted, as I have fhown, fo lateas 

 the year 1720, are ftill to be found fome where in the Great Ocean, I 

 have not theleaft doubt, though they appear to be but a rare animal. 

 As to men with one leg, or one eye, or two eyes in their breaft, whe- 

 ther they are yet any where to be found, I cannot fay. But, if it 



were 



that luhatever is pojftbk exijls ; and diis dlfnnction, I obferve, Is made by his 

 commentator Simplicius, in his commentary upon the firfl: book, De Coeh, folio 

 66. where, in commenting upon thefe words of Ariflotle, Ov^tv hx^i^n o-kotthv, h t(^tv, 

 D yiyi<r^xt ^-jfxTov, he fayS, Tu yx^ ^vnxrx yitji^xi^ kxi [AccXuflu tx ^V9-ikx,xxi f.tn li4!r«J;^a» 

 uivxy Kxi yivaiVT* uVf \ tixrnv i^n to ^vvxcBxi. Tx oi icxrx Tr^oxi^ia-iv ^vvxtx yiHT^xiy waX- 

 A<xx.'$ ovx an f^lioiyTt, f^iTx^Xnfeia-n'; rr,? TT^ext^iJ-iHi, % aX}^cSii K6iXtiB-Hf»if. Where the 



learned reader will obferve, that this excellent commentator gives the reafon for 



the maxim, viz. that ctherivi/e the poJfibUity would be to 720 piirpofe. No\v> it is an 



axiom of Ariftode's naturalpliilofophy, frequently inculcated by him, that Nature 



dees nothing in vain. But, U the Awx/^i?, or pofibility to exijly was never carried to 



En^vf<«, or a^tial exiflence, then the At,v«^i;? would be in vain, and there would be 



an eternal poffibility of a thing exiftinj,^ and yet that thing never exift. According 



to Ariftotl-e, -therefore, At/mw;,- and En^ynx^ in Nature, can never be entirely A'pa- 



rated, but, at fome time or another, the thing, that is pojfible, miijl aBually exifl.. 



See further, upon this fubjed, Simplicius's commentary upon the fame, Firft Book, 



' Dc Cqc\ folio 76. There is another maxim of Ariftotlo*s, laid down by him ire 



this firft book D^ Cocio, which is conneded with this, and deducible from the fame 



principle. It is'very fhortly expreffed in thefe words, ouS^ev yi^irxi c ov,c syivETo. The 



meaning of which is, that nothing in Nature begins to be produced, or is in the 



aEl cfproduElion, -without beir.g a^ually produced- bee likewife bimplicius upon thi3 



firft book, folio 52. 



