CIRCULAR ORBITS. 157 



cular character .of the orbits. , The velocity and 

 direction of the motion of each planet must have 

 been subject to some original regulation ; or, as 

 it is often expressed, the projectile force must 

 have been accommodated to the centripetal force. 

 This once done, the motion of each planet, taken 

 by itself, would go on for ever still retaining its 

 circular character, by the laws of motion, 



If some original cause adjusted the orbits of 

 the planets to their circular form and regular 

 arrangement, we can hardly avoid including in 

 our conception of this cause, the intention and 

 will of a Creating Power. We shall consider this 

 argument more fully in a succeeding chapter ; 

 only observing here, that the presiding Intelli- 

 gence which has selected and combined the 

 properties of the organic creation, so that they 

 correspond so remarkably with the arbitrary 

 quantities of the system of the universe, may 

 readily be conceived also to have selected the 

 arbitrary velocity and direction of each planet's 

 motion, so that the adjustment should produce 

 a close approximation to a circular motion. 



We have argued here only from the regularity 

 of the solar system ; from the selection of the 

 single symmetrical case and the rejection of all 

 the unsymmetrical cases. But this subject may 

 be considered in another point of view. The 

 system thus selected is not only regular and 

 symmetrical, but also it is, so far as we can 



