18 NATURAL THEOLOGY. 



tjws order. The sun might have been an opaque 

 mass ; some one, or two, or more, or any, or all , 

 the planets, globes of fire. There is nothing in 

 the nature of the heavenly bodies which require s 

 that those which are stationary should be on. fire , 

 that those which move should be cold ; for, in fact, 

 comets are bodies on fire, or at least capable of 

 the most intense heat, yet revolve round a centre : 

 nor docs this order obtain between the primary 

 planets and their secondaries, which are all opaque. 

 When we consider, therefore, that the sun is one : 

 that the planets going round it are, at least, seven ; 

 that it is in difterent to their nature which are lu- 

 minous and which are opaque : and also in what 

 order, with respect to each other, these two kinds 

 of bpdies are disposed ; we may judge of the im- 

 probability of the present arrangement taking place 

 by chance. 



If, by way of accounting for the state in which 

 we find the solar system, it be alleged (and this 

 is one amongst the guesses of those who reject 

 an intelligent Creator,) that the planets themselves 

 are only cooled or cooling masses, and were once, 

 like the sun, many thousand times hotter than red 

 hot iron ; then it follows, that the sun also himself 

 must be in his progress towards growing cold ; 

 which puts an end to the possibility of his iiaving 

 existed, as he is, from eternity. This consequence 

 arises out of the hypothesis with still more cer- 

 tainty, if we make a part of it, what the philoso- 

 phers who maintain it iiave usually taught, that the 



