re into your fields, which has slaughtered the people,
burned the harvests, rooted up trees, and ravaged the pastures, or is
it the hand of man? And when, after the destruction of crops, famine
has ensued, is it the vengeance of God which has produced it, or the
mad fury of mortals? When, sinking under famine, the people have fed
on impure aliments, if pestilence ensues, is it the wrath of God which
sends it, or the folly of man? When war, famine and pestilence, have
swept away the inhabitants, if the earth remains a desert, is it God
who has depopulated it? Is it his rapacity which robs the husbandman,
ravages the fruitful fields, and wastes the earth, or is it the rapacity
of those who govern? Is it his pride which excites murderous wars,
or the pride of kings and their ministers? Is it the venality of his
decisions which overthrows the fortunes of families, or the corruption
of the organs of the law? Are they his passions which, under a thousand
forms, torment individuals and nations, or are they the passions of man?
And if, in the anguish of their miseries, they see not the remedies,
is it the ignorance of God which is to blame, or their ignorance? Cease
then, mortals, to accuse the decrees of Fate, or the judgments of the
Divinity! If God is good, will he be the author of your misery? If he is
just, will he be the accomplice of your crimes? No, the caprice of which
man complains is not the caprice of fate; the darkness that misleads his
reason is not the darkness of God; the source of his calamities is
not in the distant heavens, it is beside him on the earth; it is not
concealed in the bosom of the divinity; it dwells within himself, he
bears it in his own heart.

Thou murmurest and sayest: What! have an infidel people then enjoyed the
blessings of heaven and earth? Are the holy people of God less fortunate
than the races of impiety? Deluded man! where then is the contradiction
which offends thee? Where is the inconsistency which thou imputest to
the justice of heaven? Take into thine own hands the balance of rewards
and punishments, of causes and effects. Say: when these infidels
observed the laws of the heavens and the earth, when they regulated
well-planned labors by the order of the seasons and the course of
the stars, should the Almighty have disturbed the equilibrium of the
universe to defeat their prudence? When their hands cultivated these
fields with toil and care, should he have diverted the course of the