 Clarke steadfastly maintained that matter does not have an essential, accidental, or super-added power of self-motion. “All things done in the world, are done either immediately by God himself, or by created intelligent beings: matter being evidently not at all capable of any laws or powers whatsoever.” Consequently, the so called “effects of the natural powers of matter, and laws of motion; of gravitation, attraction, or the like” properly speaking are but the “effects of God’s acting upon matter continually and every moment, either immediately by himself, or mediately by some created intelligent beings.” Thus, the course of nature is “nothing else but the will of God producing certain effects in a continued, regular, constant and uniform manner which…being in every moment perfectly arbitrary, is as easy to be altered at any time, as to be preserved” (D 149, W 2.698). The laws of nature are thus not absolutely necessary but only morally necessary, continuing as they do only because of the unchanging will of God. (For more on Clarke’s theory of necessity see Yenter 2014, 265–266).