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the courfe of time; which could not be, if Chaos 

 had prevalkd, as fome have taught ; for were 

 the imnienfe mafs of matter without a living, 

 all-powerful being to animate it, it muft reft 

 without motion, or a6t by a fermentation which 

 would always generate new and monftrous forms. 

 Now, fmce from natural light we have difcover- 

 ed a God of infinite power and wifdom, whofe 

 attributes are all immenfurable and infinite, we 

 cannot fuppofe his kingdom lefs than eternal ; 

 nor his fpace, or matter, lefs than immenfc : 

 by eternity I mean time, not as meafured by the 

 courfe of a planet in any fyftem, but a conftant, 

 continued fucceffion of duration, that ftiall know 

 no end -, by immenfity I mean the greateft given 

 quantity of matter, or fpace, infinitely multipli- 

 ed, which infinite multiplication will always fall 

 infinitely fhort of tlie immenfe quantity of mat- 

 ter ; for if we caft our thoughts beyond this 

 lower fyftem, and dive into the endlefs depths 

 of fpace, we are utterly loft j becaufe the height, 

 depth, and extenfion on all fides, flies away infi- 

 nitely fafter, and more diftant, than the fwifteft 

 and moft extended thought can follow. As 

 the greateft part of matter is to be multiplied 

 C 2 without 



