And
whatever the causes are, the fact is certain, that matter is, and
always has been, in continual agitation, as far as human
experience or tradition reaches. There is not probably, at
present, in the whole universe, one particle of matter at
absolute rest.
And this very consideration too, continued P/HILO\, which we
have stumbled on in the course of the argument, suggests a new
hypothesis of cosmogony, that is not absolutely absurd and
improbable. Is there a system, an order, an economy of things, by
which matter can preserve that perpetual agitation which seems
essential to it, and yet maintain a constancy in the forms which
it produces? There certainly is such an economy; for this is
actually the case with the present world. The continual motion of
matter, therefore, in less than infinite transpositions, must
produce this economy or order; and by its very nature, that
order, when once established, supports itself, for many ages, if
not to eternity. But wherever matter is so poised, arranged, and
adjusted, as to continue in perpetual motion, and yet preserve a
constancy in the forms, its situation must, of necessity, have
all the same appearance of art and contrivance which we observe
at present. All the parts of each form must have a relation to
each other, and to the whole; and the whole itself must have a
relation to the other parts of the universe; to the element in
which the form subsists; to the materials with which it repairs
its waste and decay; and to every other form which is hostile or
friendly.
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