NA.TURAL THEOLOGY. 39, 



which has nearly the same consequence as not 

 acting at all upon either. 



If it be said, that the planets might have been 

 sent round the sun in exact circles, in which case, 

 no change of distance from the centre taking 

 place, the law of variation of the attracting pow- 

 er would have never come in question, one law 

 would have served as well as another ; an answer 

 to the scheme may be drawn from the considera- 

 tion of these same perturbing forces. The sys- 

 tem retaining in other respects its present consti- 

 tution, though the planets have been at first sent 

 round in exact circular orbits, they could not have 

 kept them ; and if the law of attraction had not 

 been what it is, or at least, if the prevailing law 

 had transgressed the limits above assigned, every 

 evagation would have been fatal ; the planet once 

 drawn, as drawn it necessarily must have been, 

 out of its course, would have wandered in endless 



'2 (Note of Bishop Brinkley.) Many suppose attraction an 

 emanation, and the law of attraction (the inverse square of the 

 distance,) which exists, to be actually necessary and deducible 

 from equal quantities of the attractive force being spread over each 

 spherical surface surrounding the attractive centre. If this were 

 so, all attracting matter must act according to the same law. 

 This is not the case in many instances that might be adduced. 

 The attraction by which particles of matter adhere together is ob- 

 viously not of this nature. Chemical action furnishes many ex- 

 ceptions to this law. It may, indeed, be said that a polarizing 

 power may be joined to an attractive force acting as above men- 

 tioned. We know very imperfectly, or rather nothing, of the na- 

 ture of this polarization ; but we know it is not extended to theac- 



