the narrow circle of its empirical notions; he should understand with exactness the limits and the forces of Nature, know instantly what is contained therein or what exceeds them, and not form any vow, any project, or any enterprise beyond his power.
30. Thou shalt see that the evils which devour men Are of their choice the fruit. . . .
Undoubtedly one of the most important things for man
to understand is the nearest cause of his evils, so that,
ceasing from murmuring against Providence, he may blame
only himself for the misfortunes of which he is the proper
artisan. Ignorance, always weak and presumptuous, concealing
its own mistakes, holds responsible, with their
consequences, the things which are most foreign there: thus
the child which hurts itself, threatens with his voice and
strikes with his hand the wall against which he has stumbled.
Of all errors this is the most common. Likewise he acknowledges
with as much difficulty his own wrongs as he accuses
with ease those of others. This baleful habit of imputing to
Providence the evils which afflict humanity has furnished,
as we have seen, the strongest arguments to the skeptics to
attack its influence, and to undermine thus in its foundation
the very existence of the Divinity. All peoples have been
guilty of this[1]; but the moderns are, as I believe, the only
ones who coldly and without passion, in order to sustain
certain opinions that they have embraced, have raised
systematically their ignorance concerning the cause of evil,
and made an irresistible fatality proceed from the All-Powerful
and divine Prescience, which drawing man on to
vice and misfortune, damns him by force; and by a consequence
determined by the will of God, delivers him to eternal
- ↑ Homère, cité par Maxime de Tyr.; Pline, l. ii., c. 7; Bible, psalm. 73 et 93; Job, c. 23; Habacuc, c. 1; Malach., c. 3; Balzac, Socrate chrétien, p. 237.
