ABSOLUTE AND RELATIVE REST. 15 



exquisite perfection of planetary mechanics, even so far 

 as they have been discovered by the labours of science ; 

 and we must admit that our insight into the vast 

 machinery has been very limited. 



All we know is the fact that this planet moves in a 

 certain order, and at a fixed rate, and that the speed is 

 of itself sufficient to rend the hardest rocks j yet the 

 delicate down which rests so lightly upon the flower is 

 undisturbed. It is, therefore, evident that matter is 

 endued with powers, by which mass is bound to mass, 

 and atom to atom ; these powers are not the results of 

 any of the motions which we have examined, but, 

 acting in antagonism to them, they sustain our globe in 

 its present form. 



Are there other motions to which these powers can be 

 referred ? We know of none. That absolute rest may 

 not exist among the particles of matter is probable. 

 Electrical action, chemical power, crystalline aggrega- 

 tion, the expansive force of heat, and many other known 

 agencies, are in constant operation to prevent it. It 

 must, however, be remembered, that each and every 

 atom constituting a mass may be so suspended between 

 the balanced forces, that it may be regarded as relatively 

 at rest. 



Theory imagines Motion as producing Force a body 

 is moved, and its mere mechanical change of place is 

 regarded as generating heat ; and hence the refinements 

 of modern science have advanced to the conclusion that 

 motion and heat are convertible. Admitting that the 

 material atoms of which this world is formed are never 

 in a state of quiescence, yet we cannot suppose any gross 

 ponderable particle as capable of moving itself; but 

 once set in motion, it may become the secondary cause 

 of motion in other particles.* The difficulties" of the 



- "The first great agent which the analysis of natural pheno- 

 mena offers to our consideration, more frequently and prominently 

 than any other, is force. Its effects are either, 1st, to counteract 



