230 COSMICAL ARRANGEMENTS. 



of luminous bodies which revolve about each 

 other in ellipses, in such a manner as to show 

 that the force, by which they are attracted to 

 each other, varies according to the law of the 

 inverse square. We thus learn a remarkable 

 fact concerning bodies which seemed so far re- 

 moved from us that no effort of our science could 

 reach them ; and we find that the same law of 

 mutual attraction which we have before traced to 

 the farthest bounds of the solar system, prevails 

 also in spaces at a distance compared with which 

 the orbit of Saturn shrinks into a point. The 

 establishment of such a truth certainly suggests, 

 as highly probable, the prevalence of this law 

 among all the bodies of the universe. And we 

 may therefore suppose, that the same ordinance 

 which gave to the parts of our system that rule 

 by which they fulfil the purposes of their creation, 

 impressed the same rule on the other portions of 

 matter which are scattered in the most remote 

 parts of the universe ; and thus gave to their 

 movements the same grounds of simplicity and 

 harmony which we find reason to admire, as far 

 as we can acquire any knowledge of our own 

 more immediate neighbourhood. 



