66 NATURAL THEOLOGY. 



schemes have advanced any thing upon the old, or 

 done^more than changed the terms of the nomen- 

 clature. For instance, I could never see the dif- 

 ference between the antiquated system of atoms, 

 and BufTon's organic molecules. This philosopher, 

 having made a planet by knocking off from the sun 

 a piece of melted glass, in consequence of the 

 stroke of a comet ; and having set it in motion, by 

 the same stroke, both round its own axis and the 

 sun; finds his next difficulty to be, how to bring 

 plants and animals upon it. In order to solve this 

 difficulty, we are to suppose the universe replen- 

 ished with particles, endowed with life, but without 

 organization or senses of their own ; and endowed 

 also with a tendency to marshal themselves into 

 organized forms. The concourse of these particles, 

 by virtue of this tendency, but without intelligence, 

 will, or direction, (for I do not find that any of 

 these qualities are ascribed to them,) has produ- 

 ced the living forms which we now see. 



Very few of the conjectures, which philosophers 

 hazard upon these subjects, have more of preten- 

 sion in them, than the challenging you to show 

 the direct impossibility of the hypothesis. In the 

 present example, there seemed to be a positive 

 objection to the whole scheme upon the very face 

 of it ; which was that, if the case were as here re- 

 presented, new combinations ought to be perpetu- 

 ally taking place ; new plants and animals, or or- 

 ganized bodies which were neither, ought to be 

 starting up before our eyes every day. For this. 



