AND THEORY OF THE HEAVENS. liy 



by them brings with it such magnificent relations and 

 harmonies for promoting the common good of the creature 

 that, even in the eternal and immutable laws of their 

 essential properties, they enable us with unequivocal cer- 

 tainty to recognize that Great Being in whom they are all 

 combined, in virtue of their common dependence, into a 

 universal harmony. 



Saturn derives great benefit from its ring. It pro- 

 longs its day, and along with so many moons it illuminates 

 its night to such a degree that one might easily there 

 forget the absence of the sun. But must we therefore 

 deny that the universal evolution of matter through 

 mechanical laws, without the need of any other than their 

 universal determinations, has been able to produce relations 

 which create such advantages for the rational creature? 

 All existing beings depend on One Cause, which is the 

 intelligence of God; they can therefore bring no other 

 consequences with them than such as carry with them a 

 representation of the perfection which is included in the 

 Divine idea. 



We shall now calculate the period of the rotation of 

 this planet from the relations of its ring, according to 

 the hypothesis now advanced as to its production. Since 

 the whole movement of the particles of the ring is an 

 incorporated motion derived from the axial rotation of 

 Saturn on whose surface they were once found, the most 

 rapid motion among the motions of these particles will 

 coincide with the most rapid rotation that is found on 

 the surface of Saturn ; that is to say, the velocity with 

 which the particles of the ring revolve at its inner border 

 is equal to the velocity which the planet has at its equator. 

 But the value of the former can be easily found by deducing 



