INTRODUCTION. XXI 



no when he asks the question, What is the 

 primitive cause ? L instead of answering it 

 immediately, he refers the reader for his 

 hypothesis to a concluding note, in which 

 we find that this primitive cause, instead of 

 the Deity, is a nebulosity originally so diffuse, 

 that its existence can with difficulty be con- 

 ceived. 2 To produce a system like ours, one 

 of these wandering masses of nebulous matter 

 distributed through the immensity of the 

 heavens, 3 is converted into a brilliant nucleus, 

 with an atmosphere originally extending 

 beyond the orbits of all its planets, and then 

 gradually contracting itself, but at its suc- 

 cessive limits leaving zones of vapours, which, 

 by their condensation, formed the several 

 planets and their satellites,' including the 

 rings of Saturn ! ! 4 



It is grievous to see talents of the very 

 highest order, and to which Natural Phi- 

 losophy, in other respects, is so deeply 

 indebted, forsaking the Ens Entium, the 

 God of Gods, and ascribing the creation of 

 the universe of worlds to a cause which, 

 according to his own confession, is all but 



1 System of the World, E. Tr. ii. 328. 



2 Ibid 357. a Hid. 332. 4 ibid, 358. 



VOL. I. C 



