LIFE ΟΥ MAIMONIDES. RABBI MOSES BEN MAIMON or MAIMONIDES, called also RAMBAM from the initials of his name, and MOSES the Egyptian from his long residence in Egypt, was born at Cordova in Spain, in the year 1131, or according to some 1133, of the Christian era. His father, who was descended from an illustrious line of ancestors, sustained the office of judge among his own nation; and by his knowledge of jurisprudence, and the ability and integrity with which he executed the difficult and important duties of the magistracy, secured the respect of Christians as well as Jews. The education of young Maimonides appears to have been conducted,at first, under the immediate superintendence of his father; but a series of domestic quarrels having subsequently obliged him to quit the paternal roof, he placed himself under the care of the most learned Jewish teachers, and studied, with sedulous attention, the Mosaic Law, and its various Talmudical and Rabbinical commentaries. After devoting some years to the pursuit of Hebrew learning, he attached himself to the great Arabian philosopher and physician Averroes, as one of his pupils and disciples. With these advantages, and possessing a mind vigorous, penetrating, and acute, he not only made uncommon pro gress in Rabbinical literature, but excelled also in the mathematical, metaphysical, and medical sciences; and added to a knowledge of the Hebrew and Arabic languages, an acquaintance with the Chaldee, Turkish, and Greek, beside the other more modern dialects of the countries in which he resided. As his knowledge was profound, so his reading was extensive and various, having read not only the works of the most celebrated Rabbins of his own nation, but also the writings of Plato, Aristotle, Themistius, Galen, and of the Philosophers in general. The astonishing talents and learning of Averroes produced, in Maimonides, an esteem and attachment, disinterested and unconquerable; so that when a violent persecution had been raised against Averroes, and he had been removed from the Chief Magistracy of Cordova by the influence of the Mussulman doctors, who suspected him of defection from the Mohammedan faith, Maimonides continued the offices of friendship, and, sooner than discover his place of concealment, submitted to a voluntary exile from his native country and early associates, and withdrew into Egypt where he principally resided during the rest of his life. To this steady devotion to the interests of his teacher and friend, we ought, probably, to attribute the calumny raised against Maimonides by the zealots of his nation, that he had apostatized from the religion of his fathers and embraced the peculiarities of Islamism ;— a calumny industriously propagated by his enemies, so that one of them, a Spaniard, named Abu-Arab, a man of eminent talents, coming to reside in Egypt, embittered his latter days, by renewing the charge of apostacy, with such determined enmity, that at length the Sultan summoned Abu-Arab into his presence and silenced him, by defending Maimonides, and deciding, that even if he had professed himself a disciple of Mohammed, during a time of violent persecution, he ought not to be regarded as an apostate, for that "whatsoever is done involuntarily and by violence, in matters of religion, ought to be considered as nothing." It must, however, be acknowledged that this principle, though one which had been maintained by our author himself, in an Epistle addressed to his persecuted countrymen, is founded too much on the doctrine of expediency, and too much fraught with the most dangerous consequences, to have been a sufficient apology for a false profession of Islamism, if so foul a prevarication had been proved against him. On removing to Egypt, Maimonides settled at Cairo, where, for want of other employment, he was at first reduced to the necessity of trading as a jeweller. But neither penury nor persecution could repress his ardour for study; for, in the midst of complicated troubles, he continued and completed his Commentary on the Mishna or Oral Law,* which he had begun in Spain, at the age of twenty-three; and prior to which he had composed a Commentary on certain portions of the GEMARA, that has been unfortunately lost, probably at the period of his removal from Spain. After some time, his great merit introduced him to the notice and esteem of the Sultan Alphadel, who appointed him his physician, and allowed him a pension. In an epistle to his friend, R. Samuel Aben Tybbon, he thus describes the daily occupations of his elevated station:-" I generally visit the Sultan every morning; and when either he, or his children, or his wives are attacked with any disorder, I am detained in attendance the whole of the day; or, when any of the nobility are sick, I am ordered to visit them. But, if nothing prevent, I repair to my own habitation at noon, where I no sooner arrive, exhausted, and faint with hunger, than I find myself surrounded with a crowd of Jews and Gentiles, nobles and peasants, judges and tax-gatherers, friends and enemies, eagerly expecting See the Dissertation on the Rabbinical Writings. the time of my return. Alighting from my horse, I wash my hands, according to custom, and then courteously and respectfully saluting my guests, entreat them to wait with patience whilst I take some refreshment. Dinner concluded, I hasten to enquire into their various complaints, and to prescribe for them the necessary medicines. Such is the business of every day. Frequently, indeed, it happens, that some are obliged to wait till evening, and I continue for many hours, and even to a late hour of the night, incessantly engaged in listening, talking, ordering, and prescribing, till I am so overpowered with fatigue and sleep that I can scarcely utter a word." At the command of the Sultan, he translated the works of the celebrated Arabian physician, AVICENNA or IBN SINA; a copy of which is said to be preserved at Bologna, with the following titular inscription: "ABENSARA : translated by our master, Moses the son of Maimon, whose memory be blessed!" His residence at the court of the Egyptian Prince, enabled him not only to protect the Jews, by his influence with the Sultan, but also to found an academy for his nation at Alexandria, which he appears to have countenanced and promoted by his personal superintendence and instructions. The celebrity of the institution drew students from various parts of Egypt, Judea, and Syria, who, attracted by the fame of Maimonides, rejoiced in the opportunity afforded them of becoming his scholars. desire of benefiting by the advantages of the Alexandrian academy continued, with increasing ardour, till persecutions, being raised by the Mohammedans against the Jews, rendered it unsafe for strangers to visit Egypt, and even induced some to assume the character of Mohammedans who secretly retained their preference for Judaism. This The multifarious engagements of our learned physician, numerous and toilsome as they were, could not divert him from his favourite studies of Hebrew jurisprudence and |