heavens, but at the parents, the fortune which attended the pregnant mother, and a thousand other circumstances utterly inaccessible. "Further, does the power which portends the new-born infant a life, for instance, of forty years; or perhaps a violent death at thirty; does that power, I say, continue and reside in the heavens, waiting the destined time, when, descending on earth, it may produce such an effect? Or, is it infused into the infant itself; so that being cherished, and gradually growing up with it, it bursts forth at the appointed time, and fulfils what the stars had given it in charge? Continue in the heavens it cannot; for if the fate of the infant be derived from a certain configuration of the stars taking place at the moment of its birth, then when that is changed, the effect connected with it must cease, and a new, perhaps a contrary one take place.-What repository have you then for the former power to remain in, till the time come for its delivery? If you say, it resides in the infant, not to operate upon him till he be grown to manhood; the answer is more preposterous than the former: for this, in the instance of a shipwreck, you must suppose, is the cause why the winds rise, and the ship is leaky, or why the pilot, through ignorance of the place, runs on a shoal or rock; and in like manner that the farmer is the cause of the war that impoverishes him, or of the favourable season which brings him a plenteous harvest. "You boast much of some predictions in which the event has answered the prediction, and which you think ought to give confidence in your art. But I deny, that, because such things have occurred, it is certain that they were the result of fate or the influence of the stars. If such coincidences have happened, I should attribute them, rather, to God himself, who, to punish you for your impious conduct, brings about those events by his own power, which you attribute to the stars. Then again, mere accident will account for many coincidences; thus dreams may sometimes give an insight into futurity; and a blind man, throwing stones at random, may sometimes hit the mark.-So whilst a million of deceptions are industriously concealed and forgotten, it need not be wondered at if a few prognostications appear, occasionally, to be correct. Out of so many conjectures, it must be preternatural if some did not hit; and it is certain, that, considering you only as guessers, there is no room to boast of your success. Do you know what fate awaits France in the present war, and yet are not apprehensive of what will befall yourself? Did you not foresee the opposition I should this day make to you ?-If you can say whether the king shall vanquish his enemies; find out first whether he will believe you.” Jo. Barclaii Argenis: lib. ii, pp. 186-190, Amstel. 1664, 24mo. END OF DISSERTATIONS. THE numerals which occur in the following pages of the text of Maimonides, severally refer to the Notes and Illustrations at the close of the Treatise. REASONS, &c. CHAPTER I. Whether the Mosaic Precepts have a discoverable Design, or depend solely on the Will of God. IT has been a dispute amongst our speculative Doctors, (1) whether the works of God be the result of his wisdom, or the mere determinations of an arbitrary will. They have also agitated a similar question, respecting the precepts of the Divine Law: Some of them resolving the cause of every precept into the sole determination of the divine will; others assuming, that every interdict and precept has its particular reason, and proceeds from divine wisdom,and that, although we may be ignorant of many of those reasons, and of the ways of divine wisdom, yet we may rest assured that all the precepts have their causes, and are enjoined on account of their utility. This is the general sentiment of our wise men, and is favoured by our Law itself, when it says, "Just Statutes and Judgments ;" and again, "The Judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." (2) Concerning what are termed "Statutes," |