and liberal hand of Providence, which is everywhere
seen occupied with the welfare of the human race. Going a little
farther, he comes across a few mountains, which were quite hard to
ascend; but having arrived at their summit, a hideous sight suddenly
meets his eyes; his soul is all consternation. He discovers a vast plain
entirely devastated by the sword and fire; he looks at it and finds it
covered with more than a hundred thousand corpses, deplorable remains of
a bloody battle which had taken place a few days previous. Eagles,
vultures, ravens, and wolves were devouring the dead bodies with which
the earth was covered. This sight plunges our pilgrim into a sad
reverie. Heaven, by a special favor, had made him understand the
language of beasts. He heard a wolf, gorged with human flesh, exclaim in
his excessive joy: "O Allah! how great is Thy kindness for the children
of wolves! Thy foreseeing wisdom takes care to send infatuation upon
these detestable men who are so dangerous to us. Through an effect of
Thy Providence which watches over Thy creatures, these, our destroyers,
murder each other, and thus furnish us with sumptuous repasts. O Allah!
HOW GREAT IS THY GOODNESS TO THE CHILDREN OF WOLVES!"

XCIX.--IT IS FOOLISH TO SEE IN THE UNIVERSE ONLY THE BENEFACTIONS OF
HEAVEN, AND TO BELIEVE THAT THIS UNIVERSE WAS MADE BUT FOR MAN.

An exalted imagination sees in the universe but the benefactions of
Heaven; a calm mind finds good and evil in it. I exist, you will say;
but is this existence always a benefit? You will say, look at this sun,
which shines for you; this earth, which is covered with fruits and
verdure; these flowers, which bloom Tor our sight and smell; these
trees, which bend beneath the weight of fruits; these pure streams,
which flow but to quench your thirst; these seas, which embrace the
universe to facilitate your commerce; these animals, which a foreseeing
nature produces for your use! Yes, I see all these things, and I enjoy
them when I can. But in some climates this beautiful sun is most always
obscured from me; in others, its excessive heat torments me, produces
storm, gives rise to dreadful diseases, dries up the fields; the meadows
have no grass, the trees are fruitless, the harvests are scorched, the
springs are dried up; I can scarcely exist, and I sigh under the cruelty
of a nature which you find so benevolent. If these seas bring me spices,
riches, and useless things, do they not destroy