ly fhewed in the Answer to the Objections raised against my Conjectures; and I believe that Sir Ifaac Newton, and all thofe who have afferted the fame Opinion before and after him, are mistaken, when they affirm that Planets keep in their Orbs, becaufe they tend to remove through the Tangent; for certainly no Vis centrifuga ought to be admitted in Bodies, that are in Equilibrium with the Marter in which they swim and by which they are moved round. If the Planets were only mov. ed by their own Motion, it would be another thing.

You tell me, Sir, Are you not obliged to own, that one may conceive that an Atom D goes against the Atom A, without going directly

against the Part B, &c. Without doubt, Sir. But Í maintain, that the Atom D, ftriking against the Part C of the Atom A, could never divide it from the Part B, tho' it went a Hundred Thoufand Millions of times fafter than a Canon-ball, because there would happen fomething contrary to the Will of God, who will have the Bodies, called Atoms, to have a perfect and unfurmountable Hardness. And therefore I rightly maintain, that an Atom is a fo lid Mass, and a little Whole without Parts, Imean, without Parts that can be fepárated one from another. If the Body A was not an Atom, but com

pofed

pofed of Two Atoms B and C, the Atom C might without any Difficulty be feparated from the Atom B, were they not linked together by the Gravity of the Atmosphere of the Earth, or by fome other Cause.

Granting the Poffibility of Atoms, fay you, and the Impoffibility of a Vacuum, I don't see why we Should be forced to have recourse to a First Element, that is, to a Matter altogether Fluid. Why may we not fuppofe Space to be filled up with a Matter that has different Degrees of Fluidity and Tenacity, as I believe it is the Nature of all Matter? But who ever grants the Poffibility of Atoms, muft neceffarily admit, either a Vacuum, or the Firft Element, that it may serve them instead of a Vacuum. If any one fhould pretend to admit the Motion of Atoms without a Vacuum, or without my Firft Element, and bring in a Matter of different Degrees of Fluidity and Tenacity, he would fall into a manifest Contradiction; and I cannot apprehend, Sir, how fuch a thing could come into your Mind. When you call my firft Element, a Matter perfectly fluid, you are mistaken, Sir, fince there is a greater Difference between that Element and Matter, than between Light and Darkness. You will doubtlefs ask me, Sir,' what my first Element is. I answer that I don't know it, and that perhaps it is a Subftance, or fomething, from which thofe Beings are taken, that are called Minds, and which continue to be fo by the Will of God; that is, they continue to have Life and Intelligence for a limited Time, or for ever. And indeed how can it be proved, that whatever is extended muft neceffarily be Matter, and that an extended Being cannot become a Mind, be endued with Intelligence, &c. Matter is uncapable of any Motion, by its own Nature; and I look upon my firft Element as an Agent, and an immaterial Extention; and therefore I maintain that Matter receives its Motion from the firft Element, as that EVol. IV. lement

Hh

#

lement receives it from God. I have faid that the Universe is like an Animal, that has Life and Intelligence, because I conceive that the firft Element may be endued with Life and Intelligence under the Direction of God, and move Bodies that cannot move themselves; and I don't fee why any one fhould be apt to infer from thence, that God is the Soul of the Universe, or rather the Universe itself, according to the moft Ancient Philofophers. I know not whether my firft Element be organized, or not; nor how it ought to be, to have Life, or Intelligence; whether it be requifite that it fhould be united to an organized Body, or not, c. But it feems to me, that God may bestow Intelligence upon a Portion of my firft Element, either for a li mited Time, or for ever, and give it the Liberty and Power of moving the Bodies, &c. as we are conscious that we have fuch a Liberty and fuch à Power. I have faid, that there are many Pieces in the Universe, that remain imperfect, because I believe there are Beings fubordinate to God, which continually work on them with a full Liberty; but thofe Beings are not always fuccefsful, because they have not an infinite Power, and because the Irregularity of the Matter does not allow of it.

You tell me, Sir, that you have fufficiently answe red thofe, who objected to [you], that [your] Syftem was inconfiftent with Free-will; for God knowing what Men's Minds would freely chufe in Time, adapted their Bodies to it beforehand. But, if we admit that God knows what human Minds will chufe, it seems to me that we ought to ackowledge at the fame time, that they are not free; and if we maintain that they are ftee, and that God has beftowed upon them a Liberty, whereby they have an abfolute Command over their Actions, one would think he has deprived himself of his Foreknowledge, and knows not whether, or no, they will do those

things,

Things, which he has left to their Freedom But I confefs, Sir, that this Matter is too much above my Reach to determine any thing bout it. I am with all imaginable Zeal and Respect,

a

Duffeldorp, March 13. 1711.

SIR,

Your moft Humble, and

Moft obedient Servant,

NICOLAS HARTSOEKER.

I fhall publish the following Letters, assoon as they some to my Hands.

A

ARTICLE LXXVI.

PARI S.

N Excellent Book, confifting of Observations upon Agriculture and Gardening, has been lately published.

Obfervations fur l'Agriculture & le Jardinage, pour fervir d'inftruction à ceux qui défireront de s'y rendre habiles. Par M. Angran de Rueneuve, Confeiller du Roy en l'Election d'Orleans. Paris 1712. Two Volumes in 12mo Pagg. 384, and 406.

This Work is written with great Perfpicuity, and contains, befides the Text, many Remarks, wherein the Author explains the Terms of Art, describes the principal Plants and their Virtues, and makes several ufeful Reflexions.

FATHER Dorigny has published the Life of Fa ther Poffevin.

La Vie du Pere Antoine Poffevin, de la Compagnie de Fefus: Où l'on voit l'Hiftoire des importantes Negotiations aufquelles il a été employé en qualité de Nonce

de