AND THEORY OF THE HEAVENS. 73 



In the present constitution of space, in which the globes of 

 the whole planetary world revolve, there exists no material 

 cause which could impress or direct their movements. 

 This space is completely empty, or, at least, as good as 

 empty; it must therefore have formerly been in another 

 condition, and filled with enough of potential matter 

 capable of transmitting motion to all the heavenly bodies 

 found in it and bringing them into accordance with its 

 own motion, so as to make them all concordant with 

 each other. And after attraction had cleaned the said 

 spaces and gathered all the scattered matter into particular 

 masses, the planets must then have continued their 

 revolutions freely and unaltered, in a non-resistant space, 

 with the motion once impressed upon them. The reasons 

 adduced for the probability of the first view absolutely 

 desiderate this conception ; and since the two cases are 

 such that there is no third position possible between 

 them, this view may be regarded with such approval as 

 raises it above the semblance of an hypothesis. If we 

 cared to carry it out in further detail, a series of 

 successively deduced inferences, according to the mathe- 

 matical method, could be advanced with all the parade 

 that the method brings with it, and with even greater 

 semblance than is wont to accompany their introduction 

 in physical subjects, so as finally to reach the scheme 

 which I would present regarding the origin of the universe. 

 But I prefer to present my views in the form of an 

 hypothesis, and to leave it to the intelligence of the 

 reader to test their value rather than bring their validity 

 into suspicion by the appearance of a surreptitious 

 demonstration, lest, while winning the ignorant, I should 

 lose the approval of those who really know the subject. 



