358 ObjeSHons to the immateriality

degree than the cause of it, all that degree,or excess of perfection in the effect, whichis not in the cause, would be really uncaused;or it would be a perfection effected, with-out being effected by any thing : that is, ef-fected and not effected : And if the effectwere perfecter in kind than the cause that pro-duced it, or contained, not only a greater de-gree of the same kind of perfection, but quiteanother and superior kind; then that wholespecies of perfection, and not any degree ofit only, would be uncaused, or the effect ofnothing; which is yet a greater contradictionthan the former. Any one will find, bypursuing this in his own mind, that if jtcould be true, nothing could be false, nor no-thing impossible. No man could assert &thing, which another could not as justly de-ny. If the cause could communicate to theeffect what it had not in itself, then anycause might bring to pass any effect, be thedisproportion between them ever so great;nor could limits be set, where this givingaway what it had not, or doing what itcould not, would end. And at last, a ‘would end in this; that in reality no causewas necessary to produce any effect: for one